Sens at Land’s End

Spotted at the Sens’ Development Camp at Bell Sensplex this morning:

• Me, freezing my butt off. Wow, it’s really cold in there.
• Team Blue (Nick Foligno, Peter Regin, Erik Karlsson, Ruslan Bashkirov, and someone else I can’t remember) defeating Team Red (Jesse Winchester, Jim O’Brien, and now my memory really fails me because I can’t think of the other players at all) to win the 3-on-3 tournament after a final game which had to go to overtime, then a shootout, then a sudden death shootout.
• Troublesome Russian prospect Ruslan Bashkirov scoring a pretty goal to win the shootout.
• Jim O’Brien playing a pretty aggressive style and taking the body a lot more than most other players seemed to. Well, his scouting report says he often comes up with the puck along the boards — I believe it. At one point he overskated the zone and crashed into Cody Bass (I think it was Bass anyway), who did not look amused. If O’Brien is going to bring the kind of battle-winning ability I saw from him today to the NHL, then I think he looks like a very good pick for the Sens, especially if he bulks up a bit. He seems as though he could be a real pain to play against.
• Jesse Winchester looking utterly winded after every shift. I wondered if he was hurt, or in poor condition, or maybe he was just working really, really hard. He was down on his hands and knees right away every time he came out of a game. I saw Foligno down on the ice talking to him once. My dad thought he was a great stickhandler.
• Brian Lee sporting a fantastic head of hair. He’s really quite adorable.
• 2008 first round pick Erik Karlsson … playing hockey, and probably being a character. The kid has a great personality. Read up on him here, hear his oddly Irish-sounding accent when he speaks English here, and find out what he thinks of IKEA’s Swedish meatballs here.
• Patrick Wiercioch, my new favourite prospect, poking a puck that had got stuck between the glass and the netting down for me with his stick. As if this article about his family wasn’t enough to make me root for him, he’s also bribing me with pucks for my puck collection. I’ll just start saving for my Wiercioch jersey now.
• Goaltender of The Future Brian Elliott not letting in a single goal in the entire tournament until the shootout.
• Bryan Murray watching the whole thing from above, and hopefully getting mentally prepared for the free agent insanity that awaits him tomorrow.

I said after the Draft that I was going to do a post talking about the Sens’ picks, but this one will have to do. Now you know: Patrick Wiercioch is the man.

After spending a bit of time searching through the free agent lists and looking at the Sens’ roster and what holes there are in it and what’s available to fill the holes, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have no idea what’s going on and Sens fans everywhere should be very glad that I’m not the one running the team because I’d probably run it right into the ground. It’d be even worse than last season. This General Managing stuff is hard. Nevertheless, here is my attempt to review the NHL’s free agents as they relate to the Sens and determine which ones the Sens should take a long hard look at with their best come hither eyes, and which ones they should maybe nod hello to but then look away quickly and avoid making eye contact with.

The Puck Stops Here About 92% of the Time (If We’re Lucky): Goaltending

This is the easiest situation to deal with, to my mind anyway, maybe because you only have to deal with one of these guys at a time so there’s less thought involved. It seems surprising that the goaltending situation in Ottawa should be clear cut, but it really is quite simple once you accept that Martin Gerber is going to be the #1 goalie in Ottawa next season, barring a massive trade (unlikely). The UFA goalies out there just aren’t all that appealing. Jose Theodore is the best of them, and he’s risky and probably expensive — too expensive, with Gerber’s $3.7 million cap hit on the books. There’s also Cristobal Huet, but I’m not convinced he’s that big of an upgrade over Gerber.

The best solution for this year, I think, is to sign a cheap backup for Gerber. Really cheap. Under $1 million or bust! Ty Conklin was making $500,000 in Pittsburgh last season and played well. Curtis Joseph seemed to do well as backup in Calgary last season and his veteran-ness might make him a nice, possibly steadying presence behind Gerber. And then there’s our old friend Patrick Lalime, who played 32 games in Chicago last season and made $950,000. Don Brennan is plugging the idea of a Lalime return to Ottawa in the Sun these days. Lalime back with the Sens … ye gads. Last time I saw Lalime, he was on OTR saying how much he enjoyed watching the Sens lose. I’m not sure that’s the attitude we want in the locker room, really.

The other possibility is, of course, our own Brian Elliott. You never know, he could turn into Patrick Roy and make the team out of training camp, then carry them all on his back to a Stanley Cup. No pressure though.

Trying to Prevent the Puck from Getting That Far in the First Place: Defence

This one gets a little dicier. From the Sun’s little blurb about Luke Richardson, we learn how the defence corps shapes up so far: Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Brian Lee, Andrej Meszaros (if he signs), Christoph Schubert, and Lawrence Nycholat, plus a seventh d-man, as yet unknown, possibly Richardson, or possibly the recently re-signed Matt Carkner. I look at that lineup and I think to myself that I’m going to need a prescription for anti-anxiety meds to make it through the season. Once you get past the always solid Phillips and Volchenkov, the whole thing looks mildly heart attack inducing. Lee has great potential, but he’s only a rookie and we have to expect that he’ll make mistakes as he adjusts to the NHL. Schubert’s development on defence has been stunted by all the time he’s spent playing forward, in my opinion, and he seems to take at least one bad penalty per game. Meszaros I’m unsure about. Sometimes, he seems very good. Sometimes, he scares me. Nycholat has a grand total of 31 games of NHL experience in the last five years. Carkner? 1 NHL game in his career. This sounds as though it could make last year’s defence look Detroit-esque by comparison.

I know that the big trend is to pursue a free agent puck-moving defenceman like Brian Campbell, and actually Campbell has been one of my favourite players since his days with the Ottawa 67’s so in theory I would love nothing more to see him wearing Sens red. In reality, though, I think the Sens’ priority needs to be defensive stability. Aside from that, Campbell is probably going to sign for about a billion dollars, and Ottawa just doesn’t have the cap room for him. The Rangers’ Michal Rozsival, who just had hip surgery, and who appears on Darren Dreger’s list of the top ten UFA defencemen, might be a slightly cheaper option, and the Sun has reported that Murray could try to go after him. He was paid $2.3 million this year, but no doubt will be looking for a raise. There’s also the Habs’ Mark Streit, who played the point on Montreal’s very effective power play last season.

In terms of more defensively-oriented defencemen, the Sens could try to go after Philadelphia’s Jason Smith, who captained the Flyers this season and played in the playoffs with two separated shoulders. Now that’s tough. Smith is 34 and made just under $2 million last season, so he’s probably affordable. Colorado’s Jeff Finger is another possibility. I don’t know that much about him, but he seems to be considered a puck-moving defenceman who is also fairly solid in his own end, and I like the sound of that. He made only $475,000 last season. The Avs also have Kurt Sauer, another UFA defenceman I don’t know much about, who sounds as though he could be a decent, possibly cheap stay-at-home option. Detroit’s Brad Stuart, who made a big impression with his physical play with defence partner with Niklas Kronwall during the playoffs this year, is another player I think might be a good addition for the Sens, but he could be a bit pricey.

The big question is whether or not Meszaros will re-sign. If he doesn’t, then that leaves somewhere between $3 and $4 million which could be used to sign one of these players to replace him. So, perhaps the real question is: are the Sens better off keeping Meszaros, or using that money to sign … someone else? Cue dramatic music.

The Best Defence is Supposedly a Good Crop of These: Forwards

Undoubtedly the most confusing part of the team for me. So many possible combinations, so many questions. Do you take Alfie off the top line? If so, who should he play with? Do you split Heatzza into its original Heatley and Spezza components? Given his performance at the World Championships, should Heatley be moved to the right wing? Does Mike Fisher fit in on the second line or the third line? Where does that leave Chris Kelly? Why do we seem to have so many centres? How many, if any, of Antoine Vermette, Cory Stillman, and Shean Donovan will re-sign? If Vermette does come back, where do you put him? Why is the sky blue? I don’t know the answer to any of these things, which is why I’m glad I’m neither Bryan Murray nor Craig Hartsburg.

All I know for certain is that there are 10 forwards right now who seem certain to be on the Sens’ roster when the season starts. They are Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, Dean McAmmond, Nick Foligno, Cody Bass, and Jesse Winchester, who has signed a one-way contract with the organization. (Recently-signed Danish prospect Peter Regin says he expects to start the season in Binghamton.)

If all of Vermette, Donovan, and Stillman do come back, then that’s a full cohort of forwards right there. That’s a big if, however. Should Donovan return, you’d have to assume he’d be on the fourth line, probably with Bass and Foligno. Stillman and Vermette are bigger question marks. Both should probably fit into the Sens’ top six somehow. If they do, though, does Chris Kelly then become our second line centre or is Fisher on a line with Vermette and Stillman? That scenario places Alfie back on the first line with Heatzza, and I’m just not sure keeping the big three together is the best plan for anyone.

Is everyone else as confused as I am? I hope it’s not just me. I try to cut through all the confusion, and somehow my ultimate conclusion is that the Sens probably still need that top six winger everyone always talks about. Ideally, we’d want someone who is big, who will play a physical/gritty style, and who doesn’t suck defensively. No problem! That type of guy grows on trees!

Except I look through the lists of free agent wingers and mostly what I come up with is a list of names I don’t want the Sens to go anywhere near: Todd Bertuzzi – yes, let’s dump Emery for his bad attitude and off-ice issues and then sign this guy; Marian Hossa – way, way too expensive, and also not gritty enough; Ryan Malone – also too expensive, plus has signed with Tampa already so … never mind; Sean Avery – see above re: Bertuzzi, Todd; Markus Naslund – did not have a great season with the Canucks and unless he takes a fairly significant pay cut will likely not be worth what he’s going to get paid; Darcy Tucker and Gary Roberts – I’d rather not hate my own team.

But it’s not all bad! There are some players out there who sound like decent possibilities. Niklas Hagman might not have the crazy offensive skills of Heatzza, but he is considered a good defensive player who plays a tenacious game, and the Stars are not expected to re-sign him. If he doesn’t command a huge salary, the Sens could try to go after him. I don’t know too much about Radim Vrbata, but it sounds like he would at least provide some offence. Whether he fills the gritty/defensively competent portion of my description of the ideal winger, I am not sure. Ruslan Fedotenko won a Cup with Tampa Bay, but was inconsistent with the Islanders last season. There’s also the possibility of going with someone older, like Brendan Shanahan or Owen Nolan. Both these guys have a wealth of experience, and I think Shanahan in particular would be a great addition to the team, assuming his age doesn’t slow him down too much. He averaged about 18 minutes of icetime with the Rangers last season, so it doesn’t appear to be too much of a problem.

Conclusion: Good Luck Figuring it Out, Bryan Murray

Go forth and sign, Mr. General Manager, and return to us on Tuesday evening with the best possible team so that we may spend the rest of the summer devising interesting line combinations.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading back out to Kanata with my father in tow (no interminable bus ride this time! WOO HOO!) to watch the 3-on-3 tournament at the Sens’ Development Camp. My living circumstances during the upcoming hockey season will likely make it impossible for me to attend all but one of the Sens’ regular season games, so I’m trying to get to as many Sens-related events as possible while I’m in Ottawa. I’m looking forward to seeing current and future Sens in action! After that, only one more sleep till Free Agent Day. Should be a good week for hockey!

This Tuesday, July 1, is Free Agent Day in the NHL: the day when, starting at noon Eastern, General Managers wave around fat stacks of cash trying to attract the attention of players who have recently been released from the chains of their previous contracts. It must be a good day to be such a player. I, for one, will be watching all the excitement unfold all day. I don’t have to go to work, with Free Agent Day having been designated a national holiday in Canada.

Free Agent Day is a time of great uncertainty for NHL teams, and the Sens are no exception. There are 11 players currently on the Ottawa roster who played in at least a few games for the team last season and who are set to become either restricted or unrestricted free agents on Tuesday. Let us examine who these players are and see if we can use our incredible store of hockey knowledge (and our advanced Googling abilities) to make a wild guess at what might be their fates.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight: The Soon-to-Be Departed

Wade Redden: This is an easy one. We already know that Redden, after spending his entire NHL career to this point with the Sens, will not be back. Redden is viewed as one of the top free agent defencemen available, and he told TSN he’s got a backup phone ready for the day, all the better to field offers with. It’s going to be very strange seeing Wade with another team next year, but I think a fresh start is going to do him (and the Sens) good. I’m very curious about where he might end up. We know that the Oilers and Sharks have both tried to pry him out of the Sens’ grasp, which actually was not all that tight, within the last year or so, and supposedly Jacques Martin in Florida has an interest in revisiting their past together. Edmonton is close to home for Redden, but I wonder if they’ve got the money to sign another expensive defenceman with Sheldon Souray already under a big contract and RFA Joni Pitkanen to re-sign. With the Sharks seeming unlikely to re-sign Brian Campbell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they go after Redden again.

Ray Emery: Well I guess anything’s possible, so maybe the Sens will re-sign Emery. The whole buyout process was just a smokescreen! Or not. I’m sure some team, somewhere, will take a chance on signing him to a cheap, two-way deal. Sam McCaig at The Hockey News recently offered a list of nine teams where Emery might fit in. I won’t know whether to laugh or cry if he actually ends up in Detroit.

Randy Robitaille: Bryan Murray apparently described Robitaille as a “failed experiment,” so I can’t imagine the Sens re-signing him. Actually, I can’t imagine anyone signing him. Dude had 29 points playing significant time on a line with Heatzza. I’m pretty sure I would have cracked the 40 point mark playing with them.

Martin Lapointe: Murray said at one point that he had no interest in re-signing Lapointe. There’s always a market for a gritty, grizzled veteran with two Cup rings, though, and I’m sure he’ll get picked up somewhere.

Mike Commodore: When Murray said he had no interest in re-signing Lapointe, he also said he had no interest in re-signing Commodore. Though he did change his tune a little at one point, stating that he’d talked to Commodore’s agent, and Commodore — who was, frighteningly, the Sens’ leading scorer in this year’s playoffs — told the National Post he’d consider coming back, I still think it’s very unlikely we’ll see that stunning red afro in Ottawa come next fall.

They’ll (Possibly) Be Back: Negotiations Are Underway

Antoine Vermette: Vermette will be a restricted free agent on July 1, meaning that he could attract an offer sheet if another team really really wants to try to lure him away from Ottawa with shiny objects and the promise of time on the first line. However, the Sens have made Vermette a qualifying offer, which, if I understand the CBA correctly (far from certain), means that the Sens will have the right to match any such offer that is made in order to retain Vermette’s services. Le Droit reported earlier this week that the Sens have offered Vermette a deal that could keep him in Ottawa for “several years,” but Vermette wants to take his time and consider it before giving up his chance to become a UFA. It’s also being reported that Vermette may end up taking the Sens to arbitration, which would likely net him a one-year deal. This one’s a puzzle. I like Vermette, but I sometimes struggle to see where exactly he fits in on the Sens’ roster. The trade rumours that pop up in relation to him year after year suggest that maybe other people have the same issue.

Andrej Meszaros: Like Vermette, Meszaros will become a restricted free agent on July 1, and, also like Vermette, Meszaros has been given a qualifying offer by the Sens.  Unlike Vermette, though, Meszaros’ name appears on TSN’s list of the nine RFAs most likely to attract an offer sheet. He’s not the top defenceman on the list — Mike Green and Jay Bouwmeester are probably both more desirable — but he might be an attractive option to some teams out there. Given the thinness of the Sens’ blue line corps right now, I would be surprised if Murray doesn’t make every effort to keep Meszaros around. On the other hand, I wouldn’t pay him more than the $3.5 million Chris Phillips is making. That does seem to be the figure being floated as what Meszaros may ask for and receive. Doesn’t Anton Volchenkov look like an incredible bargain at a cap hit of $2.5 million right now?

Cory Stillman: According to the Sun, there’s still a chance Stillman could sign in Ottawa before July 1, but it will depend on what happens with Vermette and Meszaros, whose contracts could determine whether or not the Sens can afford him. Personally, I hope they’re able to work out a deal. Meanwhile, Darren Dreger at TSN asked a group of hockey people to rank the top ten unrestricted free agent forwards, and Stillman has made the list. If there is significant interest from other teams, then obviously Stillman could be priced right out of the Sens’ range if they don’t get a deal done before Tuesday.

Shean Donovan: As I’ve written before, Donovan is apparently willing to take a pay cut to stay with the Sens if he’s offered a two-year contract but the Sens are only offering one year. Bryan Murray, if you’re reading this: just give the man his frickin’ extra year!! Seriously. Unless Murray really doesn’t see a spot for Donovan on the Sens’ roster, which is of course possible, then I don’t see what the problem is.

Luke Richardson: The Sun has summed up Richardson’s situation for us:

Veteran Luke Richardson has informed Murray of his desire to play another year, but for now he’s going to have to be content with participating in the waiting game. As it stands, the Senators’ blue line shapes up like this: Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Meszaros, Brian Lee, Christoph Schubert and Lawrence Nycholat, a Binghamton farmhand whose deal (signed by former GM John Muckler) calls for him to earn $600,000 on a one-way contract next season. “We certainly need one more defenceman, at least,” Murray said yesterday. “And I wouldn’t be averse to getting a second. But they are hard to find.” The 39-year-old Richardson suited up for 76 games with the Senators last year but was phased out in favour of Lee down the stretch and in the playoffs. “To be fair to Luke, I have not offered him anything,” said Murray. “When free agency time kind of gets through a certain period, we’ll look at our roster, and if we need that extra guy, and if he’s willing to come back in a lesser role, then we would address that at that time. He wants to play, I believe, and he was good for us last year. He’s certainly the character kind of guy that I want and like. What happened there, when Nycholat got the one-way contract, it kind of screwed Luke a little bit, as far as his opportunity to be that 6-7 guy. That’s what I have to look at now.”

So, it doesn’t sound like he’s in a rush to sign with anyone else.

Josh Hennessy: I’ll be honest — I know he’s played 15 games with the Sens over the last two seasons, but I can’t remember anything about him. All I know is that he’s a forward, and the Sens have made him a qualifying offer so they hold on to his rights.

Coming up later: a post looking at some of the other players who will be floating around aimlessly without contracts for a few minutes on Tuesday. I will consider which ones I think the Sens might do well to pursue, and which ones they ought to avoid, when they’re trying to fill the holes in their roster.

Big things are happening with Ontario’s two NHL teams these days. Cliff Fletcher is taking a machete to the Leafs’ roster, hacking off player after player. Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Tucker — gone. Mats Sundin would seem to be on his way out, Andrew Raycroft has now been put on waivers twice, and TSN reports that Bryan McCabe is also no longer welcome. I’m not too sure what Fletcher’s overall plan is — Is he really going to dump everyone and start fresh, or are they still trying to be competitive for 2008-2009? On the other hand, is dumping everyone and starting fresh the best way to be competitive in 2008-2009? — but it seems certain that the Leafs are going to be a very different looking team when the season starts. Maybe a more likeable team? … nah.

While the Leafs are having whole limbs chopped off, the Ontario team I actually care about is … er … attempting chemotherapy, to keep with the medical imagery, on that little locker room cancer problem they’ve been dealing with. Ray Emery is gone, and now Brian McGrattan, his best friend on the team, joins him on the road out of town, having been traded to Phoenix for a fifth round draft pick. Why the Coyotes want McGrattan when they’ve got Carcillo, who is a penalty minute machine, is a bit puzzling to me, but oh well. Gratts, have a good time with the Great One! Ooh — Gratts. Gretz. I hope people don’t start getting them mixed up!

Don Brennan had a pretty interesting article about this trade in the Sun on Thursday, with a revealing quotation from Bryan Murray:

In sweeping McGrattan out of town four days after buying out Ray Emery’s contract, Murray acknowledged he was doing some spring cleaning.

“From my point of view, I want our team to kind of knock the label of a dysfunctional room, if that’s the right word,” Murray said. “With Ray and Brian and people like that, all I ever heard were the stories of all these guys doing different things … I want a team of real character people, as best I can, and I want very definitely good people in our room.

“I think anything I read, and you guys wrote it, is that we had some issues in our room. I want to clean that perception up.”

“Character,” it seems, is a new key word for the team, along with Craig Hartsburg’s “accountability.” Other bloggers have pointed out the weirdness that seems to go along with this whole thing — the focus in Murray’s comments on the public perception of a problem rather than on the problem itself, which is never named by anyone — and I agree, but I am still feeling good about the changes being made. Am I a sucker for falling for the management line so easily? Maybe, but I’ve got to say that after this past season, what they’re selling sounds pretty darn appealing.

My ideal Sens player at this point is just about totally angelic (or at least a really nice guy) off the ice, but still fine with beating the living crap out of someone during a game. He is a guy you can not only bring home to mother, but also count on to defend your honour in a barfight. Basically, I want a team of Alfies, Mike Fishers, and Chris Phillipses. I’m assuming the team’s new focus on ”character” means I’ll hear no more shady rumours about this or that player getting up to mischief at some bar (it was Barrymore’s in the story I heard), while “accountability” means I’ll be able to count on seeing them put in a full one million percent effort on the ice at every game and every practice. I accept that not everyone can be a shining example of virtue or a pillar of the community like the three players I mentioned, but if they can at least show me a real commitment to the team while managing not to have road rage issues or be constantly dogged by nagging rumours of other mysterious and unmentionable “off-ice problems,” I’ll be quite happy.

At the moment, Cody Bass — a player I was very impressed with last season and hope to see more of in 08-09 — is being held up by management as an example of the type of player the team wants. From the Citizen:

Veteran Chris Neil and Cody Bass, who was one of the club’s few bright spots late in the season and in the playoffs, can hold their own against rivals. Just as importantly, new coach Craig Hartsburg can trust them to contribute while taking a regular shift.

“We want gritty, competitive people who the coach feels comfortable putting on the ice. Someone who can finish checks, kill a penalty or win a faceoff,” said Murray. “That tells the coach he’s a safe guy.

“That’s what (Bass) is. He’s a hard-working kid. He’s not afraid to run into people. I hope he will be a good penalty killer. He looks like a coachable guy.”

For his part, Bass, who is in town for the Sens’ Development Camp tells the Sun:

“I’m not a fighter, but at the same time if I have to I will,” Bass said at the Senators development camp yesterday. “I think every team will have the guys that if a game gets out of hand, guys will stick up for each other. I’m only a young guy, but I think that’s a huge thing.

“When you have a team that’s so close, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to stick up for each other. I think that’s what they’re trying to look for this year. Hopefully, we’ll have a real close team.”

And this, I think, ties in pretty well with something Craig Hartsburg said at his first press conference:

“We want this group to take great pride and passion in being a team. To me, that is one of the utmost important things right from the start that we’ll stress.”

So for the Sens it’s out with infighting, and goodbye to the tiny personalized rainclouds that hovered over each of the players’ heads last season; in with sunshine and roses and a healthy desire to pummel your opponent instead of a soul-destroying urge to murder half your teammates. Can you feel the love? I can feel it. I hope this plan works.

I know how to drive. Actually, I’ve known how to drive for a long time, having learned this important life skill when I was but a teenager. I have never owned my own car, however, because I’ve always had access to a family car: my mother’s or my grandfather’s. While I’m home in Ottawa for the summer, I am living with my father. Here too, I have access to a car. Unfortunately, the car in question is a standard shift and because I only ever learned to drive an automatic, having full access to said car and full permission to drive it does me exactly no good. And so, I am dependent on the good people at OC Transpo and Société de transport de l’Outaouais to carry me around the region.

Because of the fact that I work somewhere deep in the middle of Gatineau — I have no idea where it is; the bus takes me there and that’s all I know — and live near the Civic Centre, I ended up spending just about as much time in transit going to and from the Draft this weekend as I did watching people get drafted. This made for a long and tiring weekend: I left for work at 6:40am on Friday, went straight to Scotiabank Place from work, and didn’t get home until about 1:00am on Saturday; then I was out the door by 8:00am to get back to the Bank, and arrived home pretty much exhausted at about 4:45pm that afternoon.

Luckily for me, the Draft was a lot of fun, and it was totally worth getting tired! Luckily for you, I have composed an account of my two days spent in Kanata watching 18-year-old hockey players become Hockey Players. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

June 20, 2008: Draft Day I – The First Round

2:00pm: I leave my place of work in Gatineau to catch the bus back over to Ottawa, where I will catch another bus, which will take me to the place I can catch a third bus, which will drop me off somewhere vaguely near Scotiabank Place.

3:37pm (approximate): After what seems like an extremely long and complex bus ride, I get off the bus along with about five other hockey fans who are also headed to Scotiabank Place, though I don’t actually speak to any of these people. Together, but separately, we head off on the 15-20 minute walk down Palladium Drive to the arena. Scenery along this road includes … fields. And also, lampposts decorated with banners featuring Sens players. Really, there should be more places which feature Sens paraphernalia as their decorating motif.

Around 3:45pm: My iPod begins to play “Fireworks” by The Tragically Hip just as Scotiabank Place comes into view. Oh, iPod! You have such a sense of the occasion! I feel very happy when I see the building. It’s weird to say, especially considering the fact that I spent barely any time there in the last few years before I left Ottawa, but I was homesick for the place.

Around 3:50pm: I arrive in front of Scotiabank Place. There’s a carnival type thing going on out front, with games for kids (including a big inflatable slide with Spartacat on it) and a long line of people waiting to meet some of the top prospects. I stop to take a few pictures of the gigantic images of Dany Heatley, Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, Wade Redden, and Mike Fisher, all doing their best to look intimidating, which adorn the front of the building. These were put up after I moved, so this is the first time I’ve seen them up close. I have to say that they fascinate me. Can you imagine if the building you worked in had a massive image of you mounted above the front door? Freaky.

3:55pm: I go into Sensations to have a look around, but don’t buy anything. I do note that they have a red Spezza jersey in size small (my Heatley jersey, which I am wearing, is white, due to a Christmas shopping error by my father), and file this information away for possible later use.

4:00pm: The festivities upstairs are now open, so I go in. I’m handed a red Draft pom-pom to match the red playoff pom-pom I was given last May. I see Stanley sitting on a table, waiting to pose for photos with his admirers. I walk around a bit looking at the various NHL trophies, all of which are present in glass cases. The Prince of Wales Trophy, which is given to the NHL Eastern Conference Champion each year, attracts my interest due to one notable team which won it recently. At some point, I get in line to have my picture taken with Stanley. When it’s my turn, I go up and give him a big hug. It is awesome. The security guy says “You gave the Cup a big hug!” as I leave. Yes, I did.

4:44pm: My phone rings. It’s the guy to whom I’ve promised my extra draft pass. I go outside to meet him. I then check in with the three friends I’ll be watching the Draft with, who are in line to meet the top prospects. They are: Heata, a fellow Sens fan; Stajanna, a Leafs fan; and Carbonita, another Sens fan with a perhaps unhealthy Guy Carbonneau obsession. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent.) I quickly say hi to Heata and Stajanna, then head off for more wandering.

5:04pm: I decide to call my mom. You see, about six years ago, there was an incident involving Stanley showing up in our front yard and me not being able to get dressed in time to get out and have my picture taken with him. My mom, however, did get her picture taken with him, and never hesitates to rub it in. When I tell her I’ve now also had my picture taken with him, she sounds disappointed.

5:16pm: I go back outside and talk to Heata and Stajanna again. They tell me Carbonita is further back in the line so I decide to go say hello. Foolishly, I ask what she’s wearing: they tell me she’s in a Carbo shirt. Duh! When I get to the back of the line I have no trouble finding her and we chat for a while. The prospects are late for their autograph session (stuck in traffic).

5:30 or so: To avoid looking as though I’m trying to cut in the autograph line, I go find Stajanna and Heata, who’ve got their autographs and are now waiting for Carbonita. They also get autographs from a few other prospects who are randomly walking around, including Josh Bailey of the Windsor Spitfires — TSN’s mock draft had the Sens picking him with their 18th overall pick. Some guy comes up and offers us a pass to get priority seating. Heata takes it, and I go in to grab seats for the four of us. The 200 level is just about full, and I get us seats in section 306, row B. The draft floor reminds me of a stock market.

About 6:10pm: Possible legendary hockey person sighting! Is that Scotty Bowman I see on the floor? I think it is, but I’m not sure. I definitely see Gord Miller, Pierre McGuire, and Bob McKenzie from the TSN hockey panel in TSN’s broadcast area.

6:15pm or so: The man who has sat down next to me taps me on the shoulder and asks “So who do you cheer for, then?” I turn to show him the name Heatley on the back of my jersey. We start chatting, and it turns out this man is a relative of none other than Josh Bailey. Mr. Bailey is extremely nice, and I will continue chatting with him throughout the evening.

6:30pm: Heata, Stajanna, and Carbonita arrive.

6:40pm: Heata uses the super effective zoom lens on her camera to confirm that the man I spotted earlier is, in fact, Scotty Bowman. Nice!

6:45pm: Some dude tells everyone on the floor to sit down at their tables because it’s almost time to get with the drafting.

6:50pm: The same person — obviously an official with the NHL, but he never introduces himself so we have no idea who the heck he is — asks the teams to state the names of the peoeple who will be making their selections for them. He goes through the teams one by one in alphabetical order. The first team, Anaheim, gets a huge boo from the Scotiabank Place crowd, including me, because I hate them with the fire of thousand suns. Montreal, typically, gets about equal parts boo and cheer, while the Leafs get a very long boo. Ottawa, of course, gets the biggest cheer.

6:55pm: Sens owner Eugene Melnyk takes the stage to welcome us all to the Draft.

7:02pm: A TSN profile of certain #1 pick Steven Stamkos is shown on the big screen. This gets a huge cheer from the row behind us. I turn and ask them if they are Stamkoses. They say they are.

7:17pm: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman appears on stage to open the Draft. A rousing boo chorus from the crowd. Bettman, you suck, and you are really, really short. I long for a sniper rifle. (Disclaimer: I would never actually attempt to harm Mr. Bettman. I only fantasize about it.) In the midst of all the boos, Bettman thanks everyone in Ottawa for making the league feel so welcome. I grudgingly admit that this is pretty funny.

7:21pm: The Tampa Bay Lightning use the first pick in the Draft to take … suspense … wait for it … wait … you never know, they might do something unpredictable … nope, they take Steven Stamkos.

7:25pm: Stamkos is interviewed by James Duthie after being picked. Duthie says the player Stamkos is most often compared to is Steve Yzerman. After Duthie says this, I spot Yzerman himself sitting at the Red Wings’ table (so, so awesome) beside Mike Babcock. I have a knack for spotting famous Detroit Red Wings people on the floor. I can’t figure out who anyone else is, though.

7:28pm: Bettman announces that Los Angeles has one minute left to make their pick. I had no idea there was a time limit! What happens if they don’t make it? Do they forfeit the pick? Within a few seconds, LA has used its pick to take Drew Doughty, so we don’t find out the answer to that question.

7:33pm: The first trade of the evening is announced! Florida has traded Olli Jokinen to Phoenix for former Ottawa 67 Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard, and a pick. Excitement!

7:37pm: For the second time, Bettman utters what will become his mantra this evening — “I have a trade to announce” — and we find out that Los Angeles has sent Mike Cammalleri to Calgary for two picks. It had been rumoured that the Sens would send Spezza to LA for Cammalleri and a pick. That was a ridiculous rumour; still, I’m extremely relieved that it seems it definitely won’t happen. Anaheim and LA then trade a few more picks.

7:43pm: After Atlanta makes its selection, Bettman announces another trade. This time, the Flames have sent Alex Tanguay and a pick to Montreal for two picks! This must be why the Flames wanted Cammalleri. Tanguay is a pretty big salary for Montreal to take on, especially considering that we’ve heard the Leafs have given the Habs permission to negotiate with Mats Sundin.

7:55pm: Bettman tells the New York Islanders they have one minute to make their pick.

7:57pm: Clearly, Bettman is doing jack to enforce this one minute thing. Imagine — the NHL being lax with discipline.

7:58pm: Leafs’ GM Cliff Fletcher is shown on the big screen in the arena. This elicits a massive boo from the crowd. Fletcher looks up to see what’s making everyone boo, sees that it is actually himself, and smiles a little. I’m very amused. On an unrelated note, Fletcher appears to be about 100 years old.

8:00pm: Another trade, something involving the Islanders’ pick going to Toronto, and there are options and other picks, and it’s all very complicated. I have no idea what just happened, but the end result is that Toronto will pick 5th instead of the Islanders.

8:01pm: The Leafs’ crew comes up to make their pick. Mass booing ensues.

8:03pm: The Leafs take Luke Schenn. DAMMIT! I wanted the Sens to trade up and get Luke Schenn because of his resemblance to Peter from Narnia! Screw you, Leafs. The booing continues as Schenn comes up to put on his new Leafs jersey. Poor guy, being booed on his draft day. It doesn’t seem to faze him though. I will be charitable and assume the booing fans gave him this greeting to make him feel truly a part of the Leafs’ organization.

8:05pm: A Leafs fan shown on the big screen is booed. We really hate the Leafs.

8:06pm: We hear via text message from a friend of Stajanna’s that Philadelphia has sent R.J. Umberger and a pick to Columbus for two picks. I guess this means we won’t be hearing those Meszaros for Umberger rumours anymore. Lucky Umberger — he gets to go to Columbus and play with The Amazing Rick Nash! Interestingly, I’ve seen lots of people wandering around wearing Columbus jerseys today.

8:08pm: Bettman confirms the Philly-Columbus trade. At some point, we decide that Columbus is a team of the future, and we should start watching their games. My love of Rick Nash compels me to do so.

8:19pm: The Islanders trade the 7th overall pick, which they had just got about 20 minutes ago from Toronto for the 5th overall pick, to Nashville for the 9th overall pick.

8:26pm: It’s time for Phoenix to make its pick, and it’s Wayne Gretzky himself who will be doing the talking. Gretzky gets the kind of reaction Bettman doesn’t even get in his wildest dreams: a huge, long ovation, and a chant of “Gret-zky! Gret-zky!” It is always very cool to see Wayne, even if it is from a vast distance. I like his glasses.

8:28pm: Phoenix’s pick, a guy named Boedker, has a hilarious 80’s style mullet. Fantastic!

8:29pm: Now it’s the New York Islanders’ turn to pick, but as they’ve already traded their pick twice the crowd is highly dubious about the chances of them actually picking this time. I hear chants of “Trade! Trade!” As the perpetually mediocre Islanders mortgage their future, we all laugh and cheer.

8:33pm: But wait, they are actually picking this time, and they’ve picked Josh Bailey! The members of the Bailey family sitting near us give a huge cheer, as do we, since we’ve now befriended them. The man next to me looks extremely proud, and it’s a really nice moment to be part of. Josh was expected to be selected in the 15-20 range, so to see him go in the top ten is a pretty big deal. I take a picture of Josh putting on the Isles’ jersey to remember the occasion.

8:43pm: A couple of minutes after the Canucks use the tenth overall pick to select Cody Hodgson, we see a Canucks fan with Roberto Luongo’s exact haircut on the big screen. It’s uncanny.

8:53pm: Los Angeles trades the 12th overall pick to Buffalo for the 13th overall pick. Monumental.

9:05pm: We get to see another hockey legend, as Ron Francis shows up to make Carolina’s pick.

9:12pm: Bettman has another trade to announce and, he says, “you’re going to like this one.” Turns out the Sens have traded their pick, 18th overall, along with their third round pick in 2009 to Nashville for the 15th overall pick. Bettman is right: we do like that one. “Beautiful Day” begins to play and they show an Alfie montage on the big screen.

9:14pm: Time for the Sens to pick, and it’s Alfie who will be announcing the name of their selection. Alfie comes to the microphone to the biggest ovation of the night, and we get the “Al-fie! Al-fie! Al-fie!” chant going. He names Erik Karlsson, a fellow Swede, as our pick. Who? Turns out Karlsson is a defenceman — much needed in the Ottawa organization — but is a bit on the small side. I’m somewhat perplexed as to why we would draft a small player. Still, welcome to the Sens, tiny Swedish guy.

9:20pm: Bryan Murray is being interviewed by James Duthie on TSN, and they play the interview on the big screen for us. Duthie says something we don’t quite hear that draws a big cheer from the crowd. Heata is pretty sure he’s said the Sens have re-signed Chris Kelly. Duthie asks about whether Spezza will be traded. Murray says that Spezza’s no trade clause kicks in in July 09, and he will indeed still be a member of the team at that point. Another cheer from the crowd, with some jeers (no doubt from those crazy Spezza haters!) mixed in. I think I speak for Murray when I say — now, can the Spezza trade rumours please GO AWAY? Kthx.

9:23pm: Stajanna’s friend who is watching on TV has confirmed it for us: the Sens re-signed Chris Kelly to a four-year deal. Hooray!

9:28pm: Brian Burke takes the stage to make Anaheim’s pick. He is greeted with another large boo. “It’s great to be back in Ottawa,” he says. I laugh. I actually find Burke to be a pretty entertaining guy, but he works for the forces of pure evil so I can’t like him. The Ducks select Jake Gardiner. I hear later that Burke apparently wanted to take Karlsson, the Sens’ pick, and was frustrated when it didn’t happen. Nyah nyaaaaaah!

9:48pm: We get to see another hockey luminary: Glen Sather makes the New York Rangers’ pick.

9:52pm: New Jersey trades the 21st overall pick to Washington for the 23rd overall pick. Another blockbuster deal!

9:54pm: As the Caps go up to make their pick, some crazy Caps fans sitting two sections over from us start chanting “C.A.P.S. Caps! Caps! Caps!” These people are enthusiastic fans. I mean, really enthusiastic.

10:01pm: We see Bryan Murray come over to the media area in front of us to do a radio interview. What a busy day for him: waiving Emery, signing Kelly, trading picks, drafting a guy, doing interviews … he’s done a good job with it all. I’m feeling the love for BM the GM right now.

10:02pm: The Edmonton Oilers are on stage to make their pick, with Sam Gagner and His Mullet in tow.

10:06pm: The Devils are up next. This is, as Stajanna so beautifully put it, a team that has made boring an art form. Will their pick be boring, we wonder? Yes, actually: they trade pick 23 to Minnesota for pick 24 and a third rounder in 09. Woo hoo.

10:12pm: Minnesota thanks Ottawa for its hospitality, and then thanks Ottawa for helping it out with its pick, who is Tyler Cuma of the Ottawa 67’s! Yay!

10:17pm: The Devils finally actually make their pick. Huzzah!

10:25pm: The crazy Caps fans two sections over have been mysteriously replaced by crazy Buffalo Sabres fans, who go wild as the Sabres prepare to pick.

10:44pm: Phoenix has another pick so Gretzky is back. He uses the pick to take Viktor Tikhonov: not the famous Russian coach, but the famous Russian coach’s grandson. I imagine the famous Russian coach Viktor Tikhonov is a little old to play in the NHL at this point.

10:53pm: It’s time for the last pick of round 1, which belongs to the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. Steve Yzerman will make Detroit’s pick. Yzerman gets a great ovation from the crowd, and seems really flattered by it. Yzerman is also, it must be said, quite the hottie. I love you, Stevie Y! Detroit takes a goalie named Thomas McCollum, and with that — four hours, 30 picks, and a billion trades later — the first round is over.

11:00pm-11:23pm: The four of us are all taking the same bus back into the city so we walk to the stop together. Unfortunately, the bus we’re taking only comes every half hour, and we end up having to wait 20 minutes.

11:41pm-12:25am: The bus arrives. We sit together at the back. Heata and Stajanna get off first, then Carbonita a few minutes later. Finally, the bus gets to my stop. Sadly, the bus I need to take to get home from the bus stop is no longer running and I have to walk.

12:46am: I get home, make myself a Neo Citran to try to knock myself out as soon as possible, upload my pictures to my computer, and go to bed.

June 21, 2008: Draft Day II — Draft at Super-Speed (Rounds 2-7)

(I didn’t take detailed notes today as I did on Friday because I was too tired/lazy — take your pick — so this will be a bit less organized.)

- While I’m eating breakfast, I watch some of the highlights from round 1 on TSN. The guy says that there were 13 trades total, which is as many as had been made on the last three draft days combined! We thought it seemed like more than usual.

- I leave home at 7:55am to get my first bus. I only have to take two buses to get out there today. When I get off the bus near the Bank, I start talking to a Habs fan who was also on the bus. We make the walk to the arena together, and it turns out Habs Guy used to work in the same building where I now work. Spooky!

- I get a text from Stajanna telling me she and Heata and Carbonita are in section 225, row B today, so I go join them. Sitting next to us today is a French Canadian Habs fan in a Bob Gainey t-shirt. Bob Gainey seems to be this guy’s idol, so we name him Serge-Bob Gainey.

- Our seats are nearest to the Red Wings table, so I will spend much of the day keeping an eye on Steve Yzerman and Scotty Bowman. (Mike Babcock doesn’t appear to be there today.) Bowman is constantly up mingling with various people, including having a long chat with Bob McKenzie at one point (is this where McKenzie gets his inside info, we wonder). I imagine a lot of people want to talk to him and he seems like a pretty friendly guy. Yzerman spends more time seated at the table, presumably talking to the scouts, but he also gets up and chats sometimes. At one point he comes over near the boards and a big group of kids flocks over to get his autograph. He signs for them. Did I mention that I love Steve Yzerman?

- “Uncle Ben” Hartsburg is seated at the Sens’ table today. Apparently he was there on Friday too, but we didn’t spot him. I also find out after I get home that Chris Kelly showed up to sign his contract at the Draft table, but again, we didn’t see him.

- Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock is sitting in a box on the 100 level below us. We can see him in there most of the day. Having decided that Columbus is a Team of the Future, we now decide we’ll all buy Blue Jackets t-shirts to wear. We don’t know where we could get some in Ottawa, though. At one point, Serge-Bob Gainey spots Actual Bob Gainey in the box talking to Hitchcock and borrows Heata’s Sharpie to go and try to get Gainey to sign his shirt. We all keep our eye on the box where Hitchcock and Gainey are to see what happens. Serge-Bob appears and manages to get Gainey’s attention. A few minutes later we see Gainey disappear — hopefully he’s with Serge-Bob! Gainey then re-appears in the box and proceeds to actually climb out of it, standing on the arm of a seat before reaching the ground again. He makes his way back to the Montreal table by acrobatically going over, rather than around, the Scotiabank Place seats and various other obstacles in his way. This is pretty impressive, and we christen him Indiana Jones Gainey for it. From now on, climbing over seats to get around people will now be known as going Gainey-style. Serge-Bob returns victorious: he has Gainey’s signature on the back of his shirt. We’re happy for him! He is very apologetic because he’s accidentally lost Heata’s Sharpie, and tries to give her a toonie to buy a new one.

- Every time it’s Phoenix’s turn to make a pick, there’s some kind of delay. We feel that the Coyotes are like that guy in line ahead of you who has to count out all his change before he can pay.

- Phoenix uses the second round pick it got from the Sens in the Oleg Saprykin trade to select Jared Staal, the fourth (and final) Staal brother. Sadly, the Staals are not in attendance. The Coyotes draft another player with NHL pedigree when they take Brett Hextall, son of Ron, in the sixth round. I wonder if the fact that Wayne’s brother Keith Gretzky is on the Coyotes’ staff has anything to do with this habit of selecting the relatives of famous hockey people. Meanwhile, David Toews, brother of Jonathan, is taken in the third round by the Islanders. The Toews family is also not in attendance.

- In the third round, Phoenix takes M. Brodeur. Okay, it’s Mathieu Brodeur and he’s a defenceman, but still — M. Brodeur! Carolina drafts Michal Jordan in the sixth round. This, of course, is an 18-year-old Czech defenceman, not a 45-year-old legendary American basketball player. That doesn’t stop us from joking that all he needs to do now is play football and he’ll have the complete set.

- Towards the end of the day, we see Julien Demers of the Ottawa 67’s, who’d been drafted by the Sharks in round 5 (yes, the Sharks drafted a 67’s player!! Imagine that!), wander in to the section of seats below us. He’s soon joined by Brian Kilrea and 67’s owner Jeff Hunt. Brian Kilrea is the man!

- After the Draft ends, we’re walking out to the exit when we stumble upon (not literally) Sens player Nick Foligno in the hallway. We say hello, and Stajanna, Leafs jersey and all, asks Foligno for a picture with him, telling him she and her mother are fans of his father. Nick points out that his father is in fact right over there, so Stajanna gets a picture with him too. Foligno was bigger than I thought he’d be, in terms of muscle. He looks absolutely nothing like his father.

- Other random interesting people we saw: Brett Hull, sitting at the Dallas table announcing the Stars’ picks with great enthusiasm and signing the back of a kid wearing a Red Wings jersey; Ted Nolan; Alain Vigneault, chatting with Pierre LeBrun — I figure Vigneault must get a bit lonely having not many people to speak French to in Vancouver; Nick Kypreos, who lent Serge-Bob his Sharpie after the loss of Heata’s; Ron Wilson, whose interview with one media person quickly turns into a large-ish media scrum — yes, Ron, this is what it’s going to be like for you from now on; and a guy from Hockey Night in Canada’s Hot Stove whose name we can’t remember.

- Interesting fact: Round 1 took four hours to complete. Rounds 2-7 also took four hours to complete.

Summary: The Overall Draft Experience

What I learned is that attending the Draft is not really about watching people get drafted. Oh no. It’s partly about that, sure, but what it’s really about is a more general kind of people watching. Some of the people there are getting drafted, and you are definitely watching them, but you are also watching the people who are doing the drafting, and the people watching the Draft, and probably those people are watching you, too. Know what I mean?

Basically, what I am trying to say is that going to the Draft turned out to be a great opportunity to meet and mingle with other hockey fans, to observe the people who run the NHL actually making the NHL run, and to be a part of what is probably the best day in some 18-year-old boys’ lives. I’m really glad I was able to go, because it’s not an opportunity that comes around that often.

Coming up in this space: a post which actually talks about the Sens’ various draft picks!